Federal HEAR Act Would Outlaw Silencers Nationwide

FILE- In this Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, gun silencers are on display at the Sig Sauer booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas. Gun silencers like the one used in a recent lethal shooting in Virginia Beach would be banned under legislation that U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey introduced Friday, June 21, 2019. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

The Las Vegas shooter used a bump fire stock in 2017, the only time the accessory had ever been used in the commission of a crime. The result: President Trump ordered the ATF to re-classify bump stocks as machine guns, effectively banning them.

Last month, a Virginia Beach municipal employee when on a shooting rampage in a city building. One of the firearms he used was equipped with a suppressor. Like the bump fire stock, suppressors — which are heavily regulated under the National Firearms Act — are virtually never used in the commission of a crime.

None of that matters, of course. To the Civilian Disarmament caucus in Congress, the Virginia beach shooting presents a golden opportunity to try to push for a total federal suppressor ban.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today introduced new federal gun safety legislation to ban the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of gun silencers or suppressors. The Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act is in response to a mass shooter in Virginia Beach last month who used a silencer to help kill a dozen innocent people. The bill is cosponsored by Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

“We were reminded how dangerous silencers can be a few weeks ago, when a gunman used a .45 caliber handgun fitted with a suppressor to kill 12 Americans in Virginia Beach. What first sounded like a nail-gun ended up being gunfire,” said Sen. Menendez. “The sound of gunshots is what tells you that your life is danger, and that it’s time to run, hide, take cover, call the police and help others save themselves. At the end of the day if you can hear a weapon you might just save a life.”

“Dangerous gun silencers, like the one used in the Virginia Beach shooting earlier this month that killed 12, don’t belong in our communities,” said Sen. Feinstein. “This legislation is a commonsense proposal that will save lives.”

“The only people who could reasonably oppose a ban on gun silencers are criminals trying to avoid detection by law enforcement or mass murderers trying to hurt as many people as possible,” Sen. Blumenthal said. “Whether a firearm is being used in a mugging or a massacre, the sound of a gunshot is a warning that helps bystanders get to safety and allows law enforcement to track and apprehend the shooter.”

“We need to be doing everything in our power to reduce gun violence and improve the safety of our communities. At least one survivor of the tragic shooting in Virginia Beach, where the shooter used a silencer, said that the gunfire sounded more like a nail gun. Banning silencers won’t eliminate gun violence, but this is a reform that would help law enforcement locate active shooters and save more lives,” Sen. Kaine said.

Aside from prohibiting silencers, the HEAR Act would also:

Authorize a buyback program for silencers using federal Byrne JAG grants;

Provide individuals with a 90-day grace period after the date of enactment for individuals to comply with the ban;

Provide limited exceptions for certain current and former law enforcement personnel, for certain Atomic Energy personnel and purposes, and for certain authorized testing or experimentation.

A gun silencer, also known as a suppressor, attaches to the barrel of a firearm and muffles the sound and kickback of a gun. Silencers pose a great danger to law enforcement officers and the public since they sometimes make it more difficult to detect the location of an active shooter. They diminish the effectiveness of gunshot detection technology deployed in many municipalities that rely on audio sensors to record the sound, time and location of loud noises. When silencers are used, the devices are sometimes unable to detect the sound of gunshots.

While several states, including New Jersey, outlaw gun silencers, they are permitted under current federal law, but must be registered. There are currently 1.5 million silencers registered to gun owners. A nationwide ban on silencers would ensure the devices are not trafficked into states where bans are in place.

Despite pressure from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Republican efforts to deregulate the deadly devices, the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month refused to hear a challenge against a lower court ruling finding that silencers are not considered “bearable arms” under the Second Amendment.

comments

“The Las Vegas shooter used a bump fire stock in 2017…” – To date, this has never been confirmed by FBI or BATFE. In fact, they have avoided FOIA requests seeking confirmation of that very statement. What we know is that the Las Vegas shooter had bump stocks in his possession, not that they were used in the shooting.

Exactly. This was my very first thought only a few sentences into the article above. I quickly searched for *anything* on the Internetz for confirmation, but all results are news or commentaries from major outlets parroting the same thing, so it appears that nobody’s doing any true investigative journalism on the subject. At this time, I’m still seeing only confirmation that a bump stock was **found** on site.

C’mon, Trump. Let’s have that removal of suppressors from NFA status, like you said last year. No more games.

We went from HPA being a sure thing for at least an up/down vote, to debating an outright ban on silencers prompted by the Big Man himself. I think the NRA never raised a peep about that either, so this is most likely yet another hill we shouldn’t expect them to fight –the YETI Wars are more their speed.

And neither will make any difference. A 10 year old with a keyboard can figure out how to make a silencer for about 40 dollars in 5 minutes.

Oh, we can lock up more Americans. We’re REAL GOOD at doing that. Illegal Aliens, not so much. But We can cram our jails with Americans for the most absurd and never ending reasons.

I guess illegal suppressors is as good a reason as any other.

At some point, though, Maybe when the USA changes its name to PSA (Prisoner States of America) we’ll realize that the weakness in a system based on the “rule of law” is that there is always a cherry picked group of idiots that decide that there is never enough laws.

Trump admitted to conspiring with the NRA for gun control. He said we need to fight the NRA and pass gun control.

Trump fanboys think that Trump’s 4D chess skills are being used against the government/establishment/leftists rather than on the people. Well, the last 3 years have shown his 4D chess moves are targeting our liberty and our country. Hence why the fanboys are no longer mentioning Trump’s high level 4D manipulation tactics.

Trump is NYC born and bred. He knows NOTHING about guns. His sons convinced him to be pro gun. Reagan knew little about guns, except a “practical joke” with a .38 blank pistol on a movie set got him a hearing aid in his right ear, and he and his press secretary almost got killed by a gun.

When it was time to consult the leading “pro-gun” organization advice, what did they say? The NRA said FOPA of 1986 was just fine, pay no attention to those people objecting about the Hughes Amendment. Trump asks NRA about “Bump Stocks”. What did they say? Eliminate them administratively, and he does.

I am sorry that not many high office politicians know a butt stock from a bump stock, but if you ask the Number 1, Premier Gun Rights Organization, and they’re stabbing gun owners in the back, it’s not all the politicians fault.

I am not saying the NRA is horrible, but the same Fudds (Leader-Wayne LaPierre) were in charge in 1986 and in 2017-18 when the President got that wonderful advice, throwing NFA under the bus.

The NRA is currently circling the wagons against the NY AG and losing the personal profit they have been making for decades. I don’t think a new NRA President, even if they’re a celebrity, is going to deter the AG’s investigation. Maybe that’ll finally get rid of Wayne.

Or the NRA wil be burnt to the ground when it loses it’s nonprofit status from the NY investigation.

Trump is the troll. He trolls conservatives into thinking he is on their side. Remember when he said he was going to go after universities and corporations for abridging the free speech of conservatives? Remember how he said he would attack them and he signed a piece of paper saying that? Remember after he did that he called for restrictions on the 1st Amendment?

…and also that he was looking into illegal DIAS in the weeks prior, per an FBI informant who would have been the supplier of said DIAS, specifically because he wasn’t satisfied with the bump fire stock’s reliability, per his creepy-ass brother.

It’s safe to say that he did use a few AR-15s with bump fire stocks and Surefire mags. The audio evidence and the physical evidence is convincing. He had a few ARs with bump fire stocks, it appears he used those guns most of the time. Initially he started out with an AR-10 for a few shots, then went to the AR.15s, lastly he used a revolver.

It doesn’t matter what he used. I didn’t shoot anyone. I had nothing to do with the attack. I knew people at the event. It’s not my fault. Don’t blame me and punish me for some anti gunner’s attempt to get an assault weapons ban through a terrorist attack. I was already punished heavily by the Republicans after 9/11. Don’t let the terrorists win again.

Just stop….. Please….FKN STOP!!!!!!
YOUR BS PATHETIC WHINING ABOUT HOW HE “PROBABLY” USED A BUMP STOCK…. IT’S “SAFE TO SAY”……
WELL I’M GOING TO ASK YOU NICELY TO STFU AND SIT DOWN WITH THAT STUPID FKN ARGUMENT THAT DOES NOTHING BUT GIVE THE GHETTO LIBERALS MORE AMMO AGAINST THE 2A….

We don’t need your help or your commentary… We collectively ask you to SIT THE FK DOWN!!!!

I saw the screen grabs from the evidence video recorded by the crime scene cameraman. I saw the bodycams that were eventually released. I read the list of stuff they found in the room and in his car. I watched dozens of videos of the shooting. I saw the autopsies details and the bullet impacts at the crime scene.

I can say that he did use a few bump fire stocks, he used AR-15s, he used AR-10s and he used a revolver to shoot himself. To prove all of that without a shadow of a doubt I would need to be the one that tested for gun powder residue, the one who lifted finger prints, the one that collected the guns from the room, etc.

Go look at the evidence; they released some of it. You can see it for yourself. I looked into it because I knew people that were there — it was personal for me. I could have been there. I have good reason to know what happened there so I can prepare for the next attack.

Obviously you aren’t aware of the fact that there is no definitive proof of what you are saying. Here are some real facts for you to consider: Neither the ATF OR FBI were given access to several weapons for inspection by their experts. The sheriff’s department refused to allow them access. They still do not know if any of those weapons were converted to fully automatic.

There were TWO sets of windows broken out in the suite but allegedly only one shooter, why? The videos shown of the room immediately after showed no significant amount of spent cartridges on the floor. The security guard who was allegedly shot by the perpetrator, was hidden away for several days at an unknown location. Multiple witnesses reported there was definitely another shooter on the ground at the site. These are actual facts to consider and they do not cover other facts that are pertinent here.

The actions taken by Trump, approved by the NRA, and enacted by ATF were clearly knee jerk to placate the gun grabbers and we’re completely unwarranted. Do some research about the incident and see there are many discrepancies.

The people who said there was someone shooting at them from the ground were confused by the patrol cops shinning their weapon lights. There was a dozen cops running around at the event. The video footage only has audio of gunfire coming from the Mandalay Bay.

The two windows were broken because he attempted to shoot the airport fuel tanks before shooting the crowd. That didn’t work like the movies taught him. He then ran into the other room after locking the door. This is where he picked up AR-15s with bump fire stocks and Surefire mags. He wore gloves and a scuba mask that was connected to a fan to provide him fresh air when the room filled with smoke. He had cameras in both rooms to allow him to monitor the hallway as he shot people.

The security guard was told not to do any interviews because the Mandalay Bay didn’t want to get sued. They only allowed him to do sanctioned interviews.

Questions we still have are: What happened to his computer hard drives? How did he use his computers without hard drives and how did he get rid of them after his death? Why does he have zero internet history?

Majority of old people are not technologically minded enough to hide all their internet history and computer files. He had to have looked stuff up to plan his attack. He had to research many things. All of that data would allow us to uncover his motive. He planned the attack for over a year…

The leaked screen shots had ARs with bump fire stocks in them. The bodycams that were released after a lawsuit also add to that. They also released an inventory of evidence detailing what he had. Then there is the countless videos with audio that sounds very much like a bump fire stock being used by one person.

We have yet to see any evidence of a suppressor being used in Virginia. We only have witness statements.

The list of confiscated guns has been made public, and people have even posted it here. Lots of quality ARs from Colt, BC, DD, LWRC, POF are on the list, and most had bump stocks. Learn to use a f*cking search engine before making these stupid claims.
What evidence do you need? Is the list from the sheriff good enough? Could be made up. Maybe you need pictures of the guns? Could be photo shop. Maybe you need to touch them yourself? Could be random guns that they lied about him filing forms for and having his fingerprints. Maybe video of him actually using them in the commission of the crime? Doesn’t exist, and it could have been a false flag or faked if it did exist. Maybe you need an extra layer of tin foil for your hat as you hide in the basement and listen to ridiculous conspiracy theories. The rational adults will be having a conversation here in the meantime.

That guy didn’t shoot anybody he was setup. All 58 people killed died from head or chest shots that’s unreal marksmanship for blind firing into the night from around 30 stories up with a bump stock. Come on I’m not buying it. Video shows no broken window and no shell casings anywhere. Why aren’t the anti gunners making a huge deal over this event it’s hardly mentioned on news. It stinks to high heaven

He didn’t need to be a marksman, he was shooting down at a target the size of a football field. All he had to do was put the crosshairs on the middle of the crowd and pull the trigger. No great skills required. He hit 470 people. It’s a testament to modern medical care that only 58 died.

Please………. I’M BEGGING YOU…… PLEASE TAKE YOUR MOMMY’S BOY ATTITUDE BACK TO YOUR MOMMY AND SUCKLE THAT WRINKLED ASS TIT….
YOU DUMB SHEEPLE MFER….
THESE GD BASTARDS ARE TRYING TO SHIT ALL OVER THE CONSTITUTION!!!!!
IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO FIGHT THESE MFERS WITH US, THEN GTFO YOU BASTARD

It may not have been confirmed but anyone that has used one and listens to the many audio/video recording of the indecent knows that either a bump stock or a fully automatic rifle was used.

I do not wear a tin foil hat so I do believe those recordings. If there was just one then maybe I would discount it, but there simply to many to ignore. I also get some people can shoot a semi-automatic AR really fast, but even their fingers would get tired after the amount of shooting I can hear in those recordings.

Back to the subject at matter, I wish it was the other way around, as in silencers were like slings, fully legal without any permits or tax stamps. If so it would drop the prices down and I could use them for hunting.

The Socialist Party has two factions to be inclusive to the majority: 1) Democrats and 2) Republicans. They will make sure to work together to provide everyone with the tyranny and oppression they want. One faction will focus on social issues, the other on rule of law issues.

Which ever faction you join, remember that you are still part of the Socialist Party of America.

I have only voted a few times. Most of the time I do not vote because there is no candidate worthy. For me, voting is mostly about voting against the new laws and taxes they propose. Most candidates are failed businesses owners, lawyers or socialists. The best thing that could happen in such a situation is if we get term limits so people can’t make tyranny their career.

I won’t vote for the other evil unless it has a strategic benefit long term. That opportunity is very rare. Most people just vote for the “lesser of two evils” to save themselves for a few more years at the expense of their children and/or grandchildren.

I rather vote Libertarian because voting Republican is no different than voting Democrat. I might as well add to the percentage of the vote a Libertarian can get. Got to start somewhere. Baby steps.

Either we need to take over the Republican party or the Libertarian party.

It’s hard to take over the Republican party because of “end times” Christians. We would have to wait about 15 years before we can take over the Republican party. By then we might not have much. I don’t want to wait until I am very old to see positive change.

His economic policies are greatly beneficial to his corporations/businesses. People forget that removing regulations and messing with other countries helps Trump’s personal businesses do better. It’s a conflict of interest most people, including Democrats, don’t address or pay attention to. When Trump leaves government he will be better off whereas the average person will only benefit from him no longer messing with their country/life.

Yes, because then the 2a side will be united in defiance like they were against Obama. Instead of like now with the fudds, and repuglicucks who would rather sell us out to defend Trump with a weird mixture of cognitive dissonance and Stockholm Syndrome.

Yes, it would be better to have someone you don’t like in office because you will be forced to get up and do something if you want to survive. Right now you sit on your fat ass thinking phony conservatives and the Democrat Trump will save you.

When the water is scorching hot you will have to make a choice. Right now you are sitting in the pot waiting for the water to get to uncomfortable, then you will decide to make a move when it’s far too late.

This is human nature. People don’t fight until it’s a life and death scenario. They will wait until it’s their door that is being kicked in. When their neighbor is getting taken away they are just glad it wasn’t them and they go back to their social media. It happens to every country that is sliding into socialism and eventually communism.

You have already been told by the founders of your country what you need to do and how often it needs to be done. You;re late. You can’t even get off the couch to make it to a protest, but you probably will run to see Trump.

Growing up, I had a moral problem with the propaganda used to foment the people towards revolt. Now that I’ve grown up a bit, I understand it much better. Without a little prodding to get the frog to jump, it will almost always sit there and boil. Revolutionary propaganda by the founders and others was to get the frog to jump.

You twits even politically involved? Statistically the answer would be NO. Voting every 4 yrs counts for no more than dialing 911 when you see a car wreck (IE counts for NOTHING).

Go take over the local demtard party infrastructure at the precinct meetings, write a new county party platform, send ourselves to the demtard district convention and State convention. You’re all full of crap, the dem party is a great place to take it.

Their PR person must have told them to never say “silencer” without “dangerous” before it.

Typical authoritarian carve-out for agents of the state.
“…provide limited exceptions for certain current and former law enforcement personnel, for certain Atomic Energy personnel and purposes, and for certain authorized testing or experimentation.”

This actually has some merit, despite your sarcasm on the subject. As someone who works in a place with a large public parking lot, I can’t tell you the number of times a motor actually saved me from being hit. The electric cars are quiet, even in a empty parking lot.

President Trump has turned out to be a turd in our Punchbowl. I had to vote for him even though I knew he was a supporter of Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton in the past and even was buddies with them at one time maybe still is. It was either Trump or Hillary and I wasn’t taking any kind of a chance with Hillary. That being said he has passed more gun control laws than President Obama did. I think this was a lot to do with the fact we didn’t expect this from him. People got together and fought Obama tooth & Nail. My only question is where are those people now??? We all need to get on our computers and write old school letters and emails to president trumps office letting him know the reason why he actually is President right now is because of the gun owners in this country voting for him and pushing for his election. He’s now buddy. Up with Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi God knows what’s coming. And look what we have to choose from once again a bunch of socialist leftist anti-gunners or him atypical billionaire that supports anyone and anything that brings worry to the left. We really truly need a man of the people for our president an actual supporter of the people instead of himself. It’s starting to look like we’re voting in California LOL. Where no matter which participant you vote for their anti-gun no matter what. This red flag law that he has pushed and says to hell with due process is absolutely unconstitutional and illegal. This ban on bump stocks after the ATF already approved them is Case in point. I wish the presidency was about what the people want instead of what the individual wants with all the power. In my personal opinion this country’s heading for a revolution. God Bless America, and give us strength to overthrow this radical regime of politicians that we have to choose from.

You find someone better than Trump, get him/her out in front of the people and run him/her in 2024 I will vote for that person.
Until that happens I will stick withe the best we have on hand. Not perfect, but way better than the others on both sides.
Old saying; trip over a dime to save a penny. Or; lose it all trying to find perfect. Ain’t no such thing as a perfect candidate.
Suck it up, butter-cup!

I’m almost positive you said exactly that about bump stocks, all throughout last year as Trump diligently worked to ban them, at which point you said they were stupid & didn’t matter in the first place.

I’m almost positive you’ll do the exact same thing again if this silencer ban gets legs, courtesy of Trump.

Luckily, it seems Mr. T may have felt a slight disturbance in the force with this latest foray into unilateral gun control, since he’s subsequently kept his fat mouth shut about banning even more of our private property.

Bump stocks are a distraction. What we should be addressing is the MG ban. Like I said, I’ll reserve judgement until the cases work their way through the courts. Last time I checked, they were still at district court level.

serge, you are the single biggest hypocrite on this forum. You raise so much hell and pretend to be damn near anarchistic until trump unzipped. Now you’re ready to swallow that thing right down. No one should take you seriously at this point.

“Bump stocks are a distraction. What we should be addressing is the MG ban. Like I said, I’ll reserve judgement until the cases work their way through the courts. Last time I checked, they were still at district court level.”

SCOTUS just refused to hear a case about protecting silencers, and there is no way in hell anyone above a municipal court is striking down dick with regards to machine guns. Even ‘gun friendly’ court struck down Hollis v Lynch just a few years ago. Sorry man, that dog don’t hunt. You can’t rely on Trump’s judges to cover up his anti-gun acts for you. Trump has done the left’s work in legally lumping common semi-auto mechanisms in with judicially-indefensible true automatics; no way that could ever turn out badly for us. The score as of now, is several ten thousand senile old vets maybe disarmed by Obama, and at least several hundred thousand active gun owners made felons overnight by Trump. Bush II KO’ed a bunch of imported gun barrels, but didn’t make us felons. Perhaps the closest rival is Bubba, but there were so few ‘assault weapons’ in the mid 90s compared to now and they were so obscure, I can’t help but wonder if the scale of the 94AWB was more similar to Trump’s ban on rapid fire than we realize.

There were a whole lot of Republican tools claiming that ‘assault weapons’ were just a distraction in the mid 90s as well.

The SCotUS refusing to grant Cert on another 2A case when there’s already a 2A case on the docket is not surprising. The bump stock ban is a different kettle of fish from the legal clusterfuck that was the state nullification of federal suppressor laws.

he needs to know we’re unhappy with some of his actions…and if he chooses to disregard that our vote is not assured…that doesn’t mean we’ll vote for his opponent…but rather that we may not vote at all…

“The only people who could reasonably oppose a ban on gun silencers are criminals trying to avoid detection by law enforcement or mass murderers trying to hurt as many people as possible.”

I haven’t heard the vocal criminal and mass shooter lobby opposing any bans or really any policies. Though I suspect they are pro gun free zone, and pro reduced penalties/slap on the wrist for violent offenders.

But he lies… The only people who could reasonably oppose a ban on gun silencers are freedom loving Americans who realize that silencers protect their hearing as well as the hearing of those around them, making guns safer to use by law abiding Americans, and recognize that silencers are just mufflers, and don’t actually make a bullet any more lethal than a slightly louder bullet.

You’re right, I don’t think the NRA have weighed in on this just yet 😉

But seriously, outright banning silencers is not really any more morally offensive than the status quo, where they are exceedingly hard to get, and the NRA hadn’t made HPA a priority.

I see this going like MGs registration, unlicensed dealers, open bolt gun ban, MG ban, CCW licensing, import bans, bump stock ban, and all the other restrictions the NRA have supported over the past century. Not the right hill to die on, because the hill doesn’t have any ducks, deer, or profit to be made.

Serious question, if a firearm is only used for hunting or sporting purposes, is it still considered an arm under 2A? I could see a future court decision saying they are not protected if they are not arms. That would certainly mobilize a lot of fudds…

Regarding the use of a bump stuck in the Las Vegas nutjob mass shooting, I do not believe it helped him in his murderous goal. I believe if he did use it, it caused him much more failure than success due to the much handicapped accuracy and control it results in. Based on what little data is published, only 43.6% of the rounds he fired actually hit someone. Of the total crowd present and packed tightly into the venue, he did direct harm to only 2.2% of them.

Had the nut job been a gun enthusiast with the benefit of research and practice, I doubt he would have either a bump stock or a .223 caliber. A larger caliber in a single semi-auto rifle, designed for long range accuracy, would have been far more devastating, killing and wound many more people with many fewer rounds fired.

For example, the damage possible from a wealthy maniac, who has invested in hardware and training, using a semi-auto Barret in .50BMG, is horrify to complate even when viewed against the scale of the damage he did cause. Each individual round fired into that densely packed crowd, with skill and care to accuracy, each round fired would have resulted in multiple lives destroyed in horrendous trauma.

Such is the nature of using a anti-vehicle round against delicate human bodies.

It is this thought that, out of the great horror of that nutter’s evil deed, gives me some relief. At least he was not competent in firearms. At least his study of them was inadequate, his practice and training far from sufficient.

While I spend no time thinking about it day to day, when it does come to mind I fear the day when some evil nutter with skill and financial means sets out to do one of these terrible crimes with knowledge, training, practice, good planning, skill and efficiency.

That would be the darkest day of non-military and terrorist acts of pre-planned violence in our history,

Agreed; 50% is extremely high/effective for that range, though I suspect you see similar numbers among other mass shooters (for example, I doubt Lanza missed many shots while killing little kids at point blank range). Kind of the point, when they go about choosing their venue. Many of his guns lacked sights altogether, and a number of his shots weren’t even at the crowd, but at the fuel tanks across the way which he failed to ignite. Even more guns weren’t fired in the first place, and lots of ammo was left unused. The main limiting factor was that this guy didn’t have good tripod setups for the bump-fire guns, and that he thankfully had a low ‘duty cycle’ with long periods of inactivity before he killed himself. And that there weren’t huge numbers of terrible stampede injuries.

“It could have been worse” and “it could have been better” still aren’t valid arguments for policy decisions, so it’s all rather pointless to debate. Had we banned gambling in Nevada & Vegas never existed, that would have certainly prevented this particular set of events from occurring, yet that’s not one of the options being considered. Banning bump stocks or silencers because of what could have been is no different.

He shot them at some fuel tanks. He was using APIT bullets taken from old 30-06 ammo, that were loaded into 308 cases by a manufacturer. That’s technically illegal, and IIRC that business was shut down & I think the owner imprisoned for producing “armor piercing handgun ammo”

If this gets to Trump’s desk, he will sign it. Trump is no fan of the Second Amendment, has gone on record saying he doesn’t like guns. The question is, will it reach his desk? It’ll pass the House without question. But the Senate..that depends. Do we have enough anti-gun Republicans in the Senate to pass this?

I’m thinking maybe we do. That every Democrat will vote for it is a given. But how many in the GOP will cross the aisle?

I doubt it will pass the senate until at least the next election. If the next election goes Dem, a lot of us could end up felons and enemies of the state. The vast majority of us with suppressors are very easy to identify.

Well, Vic, if we’d held our reps accountable for doing nothing for us gun owners at any point during the past century, we wouldn’t be faced with doom or more doom…but since we didn’t, here we are. As Serge states, our only option is clearly to continue doubling down on our support for gun banners that are currently making us felons, so the other gun banners won’t be able to maybe make us felons slightly faster. Although, I suspect he’ll suddenly change his tune when something he personally owns finally ends up on the chopping block –but even then maybe not, provided a politician he fancies is ramming the jack-boot up his ass.

Where did I ever say that? The I just call out the retards who think that throwing a temper tantrum during the general election and handing seats to Demokkkommies is a great plan. You don’t like “gun grabbers” in the GOP? Well, that’s what primaries are for.

Hell, they’ve damn near turned enough of us into felons through their own action, that it isn’t possible for them to win anyway…Trump only won by ~120,000 votes, and there are at least 200,000 “former” bump stock owners. I mean, if the goal is to not vote for people that’d have you in chains (that *is* the reason for not voting Democrat, isn’t it?) there’s not much to be gained by voting at all, now is there? At least with a DNC president, you know all the dickless Republican moderates who betrayed us will suddenly find their principles and stand strong against the onslaught –maybe that’s the best we can hope for, at this point?

Has it been confirmed that the Virginia Beach shooter’s suppressor was legit and/or registered? Did he pay for the tax stamp for it? I haven’t been paying super close attention, but I haven’t heard anything official in the media.

Tax records are private, unless the ATF chooses to break the law (yeah, that was silly of me, since when does ATF care about breaking laws) or unless some non-ATF investigators choose to release info about the tax stamps they found in the killer’s home…

I think we still don’t even know what handguns he used, and the ATF could only “neither confirm nor deny” that the silencer was registered. Can’t help but wonder if that means they can’t legally disclose the information (which is supposedly the case) or if it’s because the can was a perfectly-legal commercial unit and their crappy database simply has no record of the Form 4.

In most other high profile shootings, sooner or later we see pictures of the weapons involved. Google ain’t showing nothin’ for this case. I kind of wonder if it was even a legit silencer or just one of the dummy versions. If the government is going to pass legislation based upon this incident, we should at least get to see pictures of the weapons involved.

One interesting theory I heard, was that it was a KRISS Vector –though surely that detail would have slipped out by now– since they are frequently chambered in 45 ACP, and come with a dummy silencer. I also don’t see how you’d wield anything else with a ‘handgun’ that clunky. But a dummy can appearing, would certainly throw a wrench into the narrative, which has all but disappeared from memory already (and yet the pols constantly bitch at us for ‘forgetting the tragedy’ –how’s that for gall?)

This is a huge question now that you bring it up. I’m not sure and always presumed it was. They’re easy enough to make it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a mag lite with some freeze plugs. Expect “solvent traps” and other pieces to come under scrutiny if it is home made.

you know what’s awesome about a federal silencer ban? they’re all registered to individual owners. they know exactly who owns them, what they own and where they live and work. registration leads to confiscation folks. very clear

“””””””””””””””””””””””you know what’s awesome about a federal silencer ban? they’re all registered to individual owners. they know exactly who owns them, what they own and where they live and work. registration leads to confiscation folks. very clear””””””””””””””””””””””

Like most Conservatives you live in a fantasy world not in the world of reality. If they banned silencers the penalty would be at least 20 years in prison and a 200,000 dollar fine. Now in the real world devoid of the few nut cases that are out there no one that is sane is going to get caught with one registered or not registered its that simple because that is reality. In other words “the myth” that there would be any advantage to owning unregistered silencers or guns it just that a myth for fools to believe in.

The more I think about it, the more I think this is exactly the reason this bill won’t get passed.

Bump stocks were easy to ban because there isn’t a big database of exactly who owns them. Ban silencers and either the feds go door to door collecting them or everybody is going to quit giving a care about NFA regulations and just do what they want. It would be put up or shut up time for the feds, instead of a chance to score easy political points.

The “HEAR Bill” has the WH and House of Representatives in full support of it. The Senate is a toss-up because there are very likely enough pussbag Republicans to pass it.

For those of you who need extra reaffirmation that Trump has at a minimum become antigun, his Senior Advisors are Prince Jared Kushner and Princess Ivanka Trump Kushner, both of whom are Liberal Democrat filth. They’re also the reason that Trump has wafted and gone all soft and cuddly for Illegal Aliens too.

Well, that and the fact that Trump can’t seem to get anyone to obey his direct orders. I guess pissing off everyone around him isn’t a winning strategy, go figure.

You’re right about the antigun thing; Cruz had him absolutely dead-to-rights pegged with his “New York Values” remark, but Trump’s bluster still managed to bullshit a bunch of people into ignoring the obvious.

The Dems are so lame that it appears we may be stuck with Trump for another 4 years, and another 4 years of Republicans that can’t say no to Republican gun control, but maybe “Evil Cruz” (because of the new beard) can take over in 2024 and we can finally get some damn work done.

“””””””””””””””””””””” the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month refused to hear a challenge against a lower court ruling finding that silencers are not considered “bearable arms” under the Second Amendment.”””””””””””””””””””

Yeah your Conservative Supreme Court is doing just what I predicted stabbing gun owners in the back faster than a cat can scratch his ass. Absolute power corrupts the Court absolutely and if you think they are going to support “the people” having guns or silencers that would threaten their absolute power over you guess again. If the Dems manage to pass a bill outlawing silencers altogether the Supreme Court will once again rule as they just have and give the silencers owners the royal fking. They just proved it.

One thing you can always count on people in power will give up none of their power as that is the only thing they live for. As I have said before ” The people exist only to do the will of the Government” never mind the fantasy world of the Constitution as it only fools the “unwashed”.

It must be a real sight to behold, to see how you square statements like this in your head with your support for socialism. Is it like a Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde thing that involves a chemical, or a speaking in tongues kinda thing?

“It must be a real sight to behold, to see how you square statements like this in your head with your support for socialism. Is it like a Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde thing that involves a chemical, or a speaking in tongues kinda thing?”

Unlike you I live in the real world. At present we are living in Capitalvania and the Court just gave you the royal fking. So why worry about Socialism doing the same thing. Does the hairy penis hurt any less when you get the royal screwing. Come on get real the results are the same in Capitalvania or in a civilized Socialistic Society. At least you do not go bankrupt over health or drug care or educational expenses in a Socialist civilized society. Think about it awhile it will eventually sink in.

Another one who believes in the socialism fairy tale. Where all your worldly needs are provided. Where you are relieved of the burden of responsibility for your own life. If you fail, who cares? Your needs are met. If you lack something you want, it is someone else’s fault. Just vote for it and you get it, right?

And no matter how many times it fails, or how many millions of people suffer (even die) from it, this time will be different. Like Bullwinkle pulling Rocky out of the hat: “This time for sure!”

Told me what, exactly? Like I said, you were almost making sense above, then the instant someone points out you support a belief system clearly antithetical to liberty, you fly into some sort of frothing rage and sling insults & nonsensical bullcrap all around. Maybe try embracing a philosophy that doesn’t rely on a crippling level of cognitive dissonance, and you won’t be nearly so stressed out. Believe it or not, that’s what Ayn Rand’s whole philosophy of Objectivism was based around; avoiding logical contradiction so you can think. Socialism is about concocting a tangled mess of contradiction, precisely so followers are unable to think, and can be emotionally manipulated as needed. Much easier to sway emotions day-to-day than logic.

“””””””””””””””””””””Socialists need to be stood up against the wall and shot. You vermin killed 100 times more people than the Nazis.””””””””””””””””

The problem with the lower classes is that they fail to understand the difference between a political system and an economic one. I would like to see you explain away Pinochet in Chile the Capitalistic Utopian who murdered his way through power. Once again you do not know the difference between a Political Dictator and an economic system.

And I might add there are Socialistic countries like France that have more press freedom and more freedom of speech for the individual that we do here in Capitalvania. Law suits come to mind in Capitalvania. Now explain away that glaring truth.

Vlad says;
“Your what most Right Wingers are , complete hypocrites. I do not see people like you offering to adopt Black or Latino babies.”

Vlad, TTAG’s propaganda Troll, I mention babies and you retort “Black or Latino”, I guess you can’t help being racist. No skin color was used (it was about babies being killed), but to leftist (like you) that is all you see, skin color. It is just fundamental to being leftist, that and hate. Leftist, like you, hated blacks during Jim Crow era, now you hate whites, sadly race is all you see.

Also to your “offering to adopt” perhaps you missed the key word (hint, it is in all caps), yes….GONE!

There is NO BABY to adopt, Enabled by leftist like you, women abort 42 to 50 million a year!

Pinoshit was neither capitalist, nor utopian, nor a lover of liberty. At best, he correctly identified a prominent enemy of these things and worked to destroy it; at worst, he was a tyrant in the same mold as the communists, but who ‘crashed out’ much faster (as fascists tend to do, being more reliant on a figurehead than communists) and allowed a more stable system to take hold. A hard reboot of the Chilean society, if you will. That nation was lurching ever more violently right/left in the years prior as the economy collapsed, and Pinochet basically cranked up the horror to 11 and convinced everyone to play nice-nice so they didn’t have to endure a Reign of Terror (TM) (socialists own that trademark, btw). The greatest thing he ever did was leave before he’d totally worn out his welcome, like so many coup-ers before him.

You can use all the smoke and mirrors and just plain denial you care to but Pinochet was a true blue Capitalistic Dictator and he did what all Dictators do whether they are Capitalists, Socialists or Communists he murdered and enslaved people. That is the difference between understanding a Political System v/s an Economic One. Socialism is the dominate form of economic system in the industrialized world and in countries like Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Finland and the list goes on and on do not have gulags nor do they put people in concentration camps as was done and is done today in the U.S. of Hypocrisy .

Modern Socialism relies on free Enterprise to support social programs and has programs and laws to prevent corrupt Capitalvanians from raping and economically enslaving the populous which has taken place in the U.S. of Corruption for the last 50 years resulting in a stagnation of wages and a doubling of the wealth of the Capitalivanian Greed Monger Republican Criminals who have enslaved the people in part time minimum wage jobs with no retirement and benefits. Trickle down Reaganomics prove to be all “trickle up” rape and robbery of the working mans miserly wages.

Although this is completely unknown to the uneducated Conservatives in the beginnings of the Industrial revolution pure Capitalism allowed child slave labor were orphans were used as chimney sweeps until they died of lung diseases later in time in West Virginia an entire population was enslaved in unincorporated areas that had no police force, only company goons and the people were enslaved to the point they were not even allowed to leave it. They could only shop in rip off company stores and had no union rights at all and no medical care or educational rights. It resulted in armed conflict with the state and the state actually ended up murdering two of the union leaders on the very steps of the capital in broad daylight with their wives standing beside them. It was Capitalvana at its most obscene and most murderous. This is what true Capitalism really is, an exploitative, viscous , murderous economic system with the all the wealth at the top and nothing for the worker slaves below which is what we have been seeing in a reemergence of during the last 50 years. Its far worse than even communism was before it became extinct as the people under communism had guaranteed health care, a guaranteed housing and a guaranteed educational system. Communism’s mistakes and faults were corrected as time went on with the abolition of 5 years plans and collective farms and there was a return to free enterprise which gradually evolved into the modern Socialism we have today in the civilized industrial countries of the world which the corrupt State of Capitalvania has yet to join.

Vote Socialism for a civilized society in 2020. Vote Bernie a Socialist for everyone.

I note that vlad has now seemingly given up on the 8 page copy-and-paste scam that he used to be so enamored of. I guess he figures that no one is stupid enough to buy him as a “gun expert”, now that he has shown that he hasn’t the slightest clue what the “M” word is. 🙂

Actually, if you dig deeper into the coup and the government’s response to it in the 70s and 80s, you’ll see that Pinochet was fairly moderate in most cases. A coup that kills less than 4000 people basically tells us that the government only really targeted actual communists. When compared to the inevitable body count of a communist regime in such a country, that body count is a blip. Much as people don’t like Pinochet’s tactics, he did what was necessary to prevent another Cambodia or Venezuela then stepped down once the genocidal commies were driven out of power. Realistically, a few thousand dead commies are a small price to pay for preventing a South American Holodomor.

“Communism’s mistakes and faults were corrected as time went on with the abolition of 5 years plans and collective farms and there was a return to free enterprise which gradually evolved into the modern Socialism we have today in the civilized industrial countries of the world which the corrupt State of Capitalvania has yet to join.”

You’re a genius VLAD. I bet your IQ is over 90. Don’t be so modest. China definitely looks like an enticing place to live especially with all the volumes of pollution it’s factories produce. Yup, Communism has sure changed. I’m so happy that you’re setting the “record” straight, brother. VLAD my brother, you need to write a book about this stuff. You’ll make millions and then you can donate all of it to America’s sanctuary cities and Bernie’s campaign. I’m hoping Bernie runs, brother, because if he does he’ll bring the whole party down with him. And I know that’s something you can live with, brother.

I hate to bust your bubble, Vlad, but Bernie is a long way from being a socialist. His program is basically to retain the current neo-liberal capitalist crap and give it a facelift with a few regulations here, a few mandates there, a couple of price or salary caps over there. It’s nothing more than a few band-aids on a massive, sucking wound, and at the end of the day, you’ve still got capitalism. Only now you’ve got it over-regulated to the point of incomprehensibility.

Bernie will solve nothing. AOC will solve nothing. The green new deal will solve nothing. It’s all about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titannic — and it’s still going to sink.

And then, enabled by the renown of their expertise, West Virginia was able to export their ample supply of chimney sweeps globally to it’s benefit. Much like oil-rich countries only this time in skill rather than commodity.

Let’s introduce the Constitution First Act. This act would automatically remove elected officials that have sworn to protect and obey the Constitution of the U S and then authorize and or co-sign bills that are unconstitutional in purpose. This act would include Federal, state and local politicians.

All the ban states remember you guys crying about silencers telling us to ‘just move to somewhere with freedom’. Heh, hope you don’t expect us to get off our keysters to fight this fight for you when you’ve constantly told us to pound sand and refused to provide any assistance in the past, besides telling us to move.
Well I take that back, here’s my help…..Move to a country with more freedom. That does nothing for you? Join the club.

And also far-sighted strategists; I know you’ll use whatever justification to keep feeding your Beast, though. Personally, I think working from unassailable enclaves on our side that would simply ignore any federal diktat is a far superior strategy to fighting in the trenches all over (after all, it works for the leftists), especially since you would have fewer allies simultaneously funding/supporting/legitimizing the anti-gun strongholds by their mere presence, along with bolstering their apportionment in congress.

“…a lower court ruling finding that silencers are not considered “bearable arms” under the Second Amendment.”

If suppressors are not “bearable arms”, why are they restricted under ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations)??? ITAR isn’t just about guns only. In fact, every imaginable firearm component and accessory is regulated under ITAR, including silencers. Looks like Congress and various courts want to be willfully ignorant of their own existing laws. The definition of “Arms” has already been defined under ITAR; no do-overs. (Note that the word “Arms” is a key word in the title of the law regulating same)

So this would call for the outlawing of NFA items that, if legally owned, are all registered with the ATF. Bump stocks were unregistered accessories, they demanded people turn them in, probably most didn’t. I’m curious to see what compliance rates would be with items that have a tight ATF paper trail.

Please read and ask President Trump to support this and your local congressman. Everyone should be writing the president and their representative. And send an email to the president’s gun suppressor loving sons. It’s not a put down. I love gun suppressors also.

True, I was disappointed with the lack of motion during the first half of Trump’s term, but realistically, given how slim the GOP majority was, it wasn’t surprising. Not that it helped them in the long run as they lost the House by failing to support Trump.

Please don’t give up. That’s what they want you to do. I’m also very disappointed with the entire republican establishment. but Never give up fight. I never thought there would be movement toward Liberty in Illinois. But there is.

Without “law enforcement” the politicians have no power to enforce their law in the United States. They would have to send in the military, DHS, FBI and ATF. Luckily for them, police are on their side because money and privileges are more important to them than America. That’s a reality Republicans don’t want to acknowledge because they worship government.

Do you know what a nail sounds like ? Feinstein
How about the number of people shot every year with nail guns ? Maybe you want some new laws to control people that use tools. There’s a lot of dangerous hammers around.

“A nationwide ban on silencers would ensure the devices are not trafficked into states where bans are in place.”
He’s right!
The nationwide ban on meth, heroin and cocaine “ensures” that these substances are not trafficked into states where bans are in place.
And hey, while we’re at it, why not just pass a law that makes it illegal to use a suppressor while committing a mass shooting? Surely such a law would “ensure” that crazies and terrorists not be able to use these devices without severe penalties.

Right? We need to strengthen the sentences on mass-shootings, even though most of those killers are dead by the end, and the rest are incarcerated for life; it will serve as a deterrent, and voters will know we’re serious! LOL

The name is so frustrating and misleading. “Empowering Americans to Act” could mean oh I don’t know, allowing Americans to defend themselves at work, schools, and other high profile targets. But it’s just another way of saying restrict the 2a even further.

So the Byrne JAG will spill about $1 BILLION US dollars on the buy back? Really? Out of which budget will this come? Why should all citizens, especially the law abiding owners of suppressors pay themselves ultimately? Of course this assumes that the buy back actually pays what people spent on a suppressor and stamps.

As much as most decent law abiding people want to comply with ridiculous rules/laws made up because of emotion rather than facts. Why comply at all, a suppressor can be made at home for about $20.00, keep it for the day when SHTF. Disassembled with parts in different storage places, it’s just parts, not a suppressor. . I have never condoned breaking the law, but new gun control laws do nothing to prevent crime, just infringes on decent citizens. Bump stocks?, who needs them. With the right practiced technique you can rock your AR without a bump stock.

Yup, that’s one of the real PITAs about some of the cool old suppressors, some of which work exceedingly well, they use wipes that are good for 20-50 shots and then have to be replaced, and the parts are controlled almost as though each one was a silencer itself (not quite, you can get them all replaced at once and it’s not a tax stamp to get them but it’s still a HUGE pain to follow the law).

Being a law abiding citizen is how government manipulates you into servitude. They want you to be passive. They are fine if you get passive aggressive a few times a year. Just make sure to never break any of their rules — you will be “fine.” Once you get aggressive you will be considered a terrorist.

I won’t support this legislation unless includes something to require sound amplification devices be added to archery equipment. Too long those archery folks have been skirting the law and it’s been nothing but mayhem in the streets as a result.

This bill won’t even get a committee hearing. It’s the kind of Chicken Little crap that the NRA sends panicked fund raising letters about. The only reason bills like this are introduced is to prove how anti-gun they are to their constituents. If they’re really lucky, a vote happens, and they can say that the Republicans who voted against it are greedy racist sexists who want you to die

Someone please explain how many times a mass shooter as used a silencer in commission of a mass shooting? Why do we need even more control over something that literally only law abiding people are buying? This dude and his 45 are a perfect example of how background checks, registration and all of the other shit associated with the silencer process are not preventing crimes, murder, or anything. The article specifies “muggings”. Are they serious? How many muggings actually end in a gun shot? 10% maybe?

This jackwad and his cohorts are just another bunch of showboating democommies working for their master Bloomingbird and his puppets mom’s dumbmand action.

The use of a suppressor in ONE deranged criminal act does not it make a dangerous item. They truly need to educate themselves about what effect it has and what it does not do instead of opening their orifices and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt they know absolutely nothing about it.

The other high profile crime done with suppressors was a former LAPD officer killing other police officers and their family. They didn’t make a big deal about gun control and suppressor bans after that cop went after corrupt government. He was also black, from the military and worked for the government.

The government wanted to cover up the corruption. They did not make a big deal out of it afterwards because they didn’t want the people to see that even your government is a danger to you.

Actually, I’ve noticed that in close proximity to unsuppressed gunfire, it’s often harder to zero in on the location than with sounds that are less brutally loud. You know you’re close, but 150 decibels or so make it hard to find the exact direction. This is obvious when deer hunting. Deer bolt at close gunfire, but often don’t run directly away from the source, like they do for softer noises. Communication is also often hampered by unsuppressed fire. Victims trying to help each other run or hide have a harder time hearing each other. With every incident, I’m more convinced that “common sense gun laws” should encourage and legalize national concealed carry, and legalize suppressors, to help the good guys practice with less hearing loss. The best answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy (or girl) with a gun.

That’s true for rifles with compensators (suppressed or suppressed). It’s very difficult to determine where the sound is coming from due to the gas blowing off in a direction other than the end of the muzzle. I don’t think it’s necessarily that it’s loud or less loud. But interesting point. Brought back memories of a herd of elk that were walking away out of range turn around and run back towards us as soon as my buddy took a shot with his .338LM.

Other day I was driving along, minding my own and rockin’ out to Stranglehold by Uncle Ted, when some dude came out of no where and hit my car. I never heard him coming. Where was the righteous indignation? Where was the call to action? Where was the call for justice? Why aren’t we banning mufflers on vehicles? Do you know how many lives we could save if you just make sure everyone hears your car? We should ban ALL mufflers on ALL vehicles now and stop all this needless tragedy. Millions of accidents avoided. World peace.

If suppressors weren’t already so heavily regulated I would own several…
I guess these dumbass politicians don’t understand how easy it is to make your own silencer…
The stupidity of these people knows no bounds and it is time to remove them from office ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!

Assuming people even obey “the law” . . . which is nothing more than the opinions of people a thousand miles way that asked neither us input, nor our consent, when trying to subjugate us to their whims by the barrel of a gun. Ironically, it would likely be a suppressed gun.

The HEAR Act sounds too much like the Hearing Protection Act. There contents are at opposite ends of the supressor discussion. Watch for the smoke and mirror deceptionns and potential misleading vote motions.

There is so much stupid in this article, it would take too long to list all the lies, misinformation, and purposeful disinformation.

When it says, “commonsense gun safety reform”, how does that include banning a piece of commonsense gun safety gear, sound suppressors?

Menendez said, ““The only people who could reasonably oppose a ban on gun silencers are criminals trying to avoid detection by law enforcement or mass murderers trying to hurt as many people as possible.
Um, how about people with ears? How about hunters? Target shooters? Homeowners for their HD gun?

How about people with hunting dogs, who don’t want to permanently damage their dogs hearing (you can’t put earplugs or earmuffs on a dog)? It’s cruelty to animals to ban essential safety gear that can protect hunting dogs’ hearing!

While nobody I know of was ever killed by a silencer/suppressor unless they were beaten to death with one and whereas the fact that you currently have to pay $200 for extortion fees plus a truly insane amount of money for a piece of plumbing you can quietly shoot a 30 caliber bullet thru, I’m glad I havent spent any time or close to $2000 to get one.

Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Castro and so many more were leftists and mass murderers. Menendez, Feinstein, Klein, Blumenthal are all leftists, and although they have not at this point performed mass murder, the question arises, are they attempting to remove firearms from the publics arena, so they can perform mass murder, like the above mentioned, and so many others?

This shit is starting to piss me off. Some deranged asshole goes on a shooting rampage and people are arguing whether it was faked or not. This is the reason the Leftist, anti-Constitution scum are winning in Congress and in the public eye. Those who would oppose any additional laws that further restrict our God-given Liberties are too stupid to keep their eye on the ball and would rather argue bullshit topics like whether or not Bumpstocks were used and the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting actually occurred. Seriously?

This is why the Leftists are winning and we will be losing our Liberties within the decade. Those who should be opposing them are too easy to help dumboKrats get (re-)elected by casting their votes for some 3rd-party candidate who almost always turns out to be a DNC plant. WE’RE DOOMED!!

“The only people who could reasonably oppose a ban on gun silencers are criminals…”

And people who enjoy being able to hear out of their ears. Using a handgun inside your home will save your life from a criminal but will destroy your hearing permanently. Attach a supressor to that bad boy and you can save your life AND your hearing.